Diffuse Marketing And IT Wars With The Power Of Digital Policy

By Kristina Podnar

How many times do you hear that IT is slowing down the digital marketing process, focused so much on security that Marketing can’t be responsive to user needs? Or how many times does it seem like Marketing is not giving any thought to serious operational considerations, such as backups and disaster recovery?

From content management systems (CMS) to productivity tools
(e.g., Confluence, Jira), it is evident that not much has changed in the
Marketing – IT dynamic during the past two decades. Sure, unlike 20 years ago
when Marketing had to come to IT for a precursor to one of today’s CRM
platforms, Marketing has a slew of software as a service (SaaS) options that
seemingly require little to no IT input. But the reality is far more nuanced.
Today, more than ever, it takes both sides of the house to create sound digital
systems, but even more so, it takes both groups to deliver a great digital user
experience that drives the business’ bottom line.

What if I told you there is a way to stop clashes over reliability
versus speed and get rid of wasted hours in meetings reinventing the selection
criteria each time a new addition to the digital stack is required? What if the
rules of the game, or the technology selection identification and selection
policy as I like to call it, were predefined and they allowed you to focus on
what matters? Right! Let’s allow Marketing and IT feel like they are in the
movies: “I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.”

The objective: Avoiding chaos

As the old saying goes, “When everyone is responsible, no
one is responsible.” The purpose of this specific policy is to define the
start-to-finish process for purchasing and/or subscribing to digital technology
(e.g., a content management system (CMS), social media listening tools, tools
for analytics, database management tools, code repositories, backups and
disaster recovery, authentication, etc.). It also identifies the various roles
involved in the process.

Often, it’s IT that goes into a corner and decides what the
digital technology stack ought to be. After all, “technology” is in your
department name. But maybe Marketing took advantage of their budget and set up
a content management shop in the cloud. But when there’s no clear
responsibility for providing input and selecting digital technology, then
everyone does their own thing. Chaos is the inevitable result.

This policy is intended to bring order to that chaotic
environment by clearly stating who gets to identify what digital technology is
used, and how the selection process will work. And you can’t get that done
without your colleagues in Marketing. So while your first instinct might be to
go off and write a policy that tells Marketing what to do, resist the urge, and
ask your colleague to meet with you and focus on getting a policy defined.

Key outcomes: A beautiful friendship

The goal of this policy is very straight forward, and the
beauty is that it can be sponsored by IT or Marketing. If this policy were a
box of cookie mix, it would contain fine print that indicated whoever is
sponsoring the event must also invite their counterparts to participate in the
policy development process. The objectives are simple:

Clarify
who is responsible for digital technology decision making is communicated

Define
who is accountable and responsible for decision making around various digital
technologies and document it

Getting it done

The priority should be to determine which approach—centralized
or decentralized purchasing—will best serve the organization’s needs.
Considerations to leverage in discussions with your Marketing partners and to
document in your policy include:

Authority

Who
has the authority to make the final decision? Does someone in IT make decisions
for the entire organization, or does Marketing get to make those decisions for
themselves?

If
Marketing will decide technology for themselves, what procedures do we need, to
make sure the new technology will successfully integrate with existing
technology?

What
about other performance criteria like uptime, notifications of scheduled
maintenance, data security protocols, 24/7 support, etc.? Should Marketing be required
to select from a list of providers that have been vetted by IT?

If
the decisions are made by IT, will we seek input from Marketing and other
digital workers who will be using the technology? How much weight will we give
to various input?

If
we are a global organization, will we keep purchasing decisions at
headquarters, or will we allow remote locations to buy digital technology
according to local needs? If we let local offices choose their own digital
technologies, what standards or requirements will we establish?

What
other issues should be considered before the authorized party decides about
purchasing digital technology (records management, privacy, security, etc.)?

Trial

Should
we try a proof of concept before fully investing in new technology? If so, how
and when will we collect user feedback, and which factors should carry the most
weight when evaluating feedback?

Legacy issues

If
we are dealing proactively with systems that were already selected by
Marketing, but ultimately IT will get to choose technology going forward, what
happens to content stored on legacy systems? How much time will it take to
convert to a new platform? How difficult will it be to transfer data records to
a new system? Who will be responsible for getting that work done? Will Marketing
have veto power?

Are
there set times—e.g., license renewal—when we should rethink a previous choice
and consider other options? Other than license renewals, what other triggers
should we watch for?

Validation of effectiveness

Should
we conduct scheduled audits to identify the various technology products being
used throughout the organization? If so, what action will we take if digital
workers are using an unauthorized product (if any)?

What
processes will we use to prevent and/or resolve conflicts—for example,
regarding functionality vs. usability? What can we do to make sure everyone’s
needs are met to the greatest extent? When that’s not possible, which should we
prioritize (e.g., functionality vs. usability)?

Supporting and servicing

If
IT will have full responsibility for purchasing and maintaining digital
technologies, what policies should we have about SLAs? What is the minimal
level of service we will require?

Once
a technology is identified and selected, will IT be responsible for installing,
maintaining, and supporting it? If not, what guidance and support will be
provided to the various functional areas?

Conclusion: The power of policy and partnership

In today’s hyper-competitive world the key to increasing any
business bottom line is the bridging of Marketing and IT. That means having a
documented policy that clarifies digital technology decision making and related
roles and responsibilities. Joining with your Marketing colleagues and defining
that peace treaty will stop the battling and prevent any future wars.

And that is the power of digital policy.

KRISTINA PODNAR is a
digital policy innovator. For over two decades, she has worked with some of the
most high-profile companies in the world and has helped them see policies as
opportunities to free the organization from uncertainty, risk, and internal chaos.
Podnar’s approach brings in marketing, human resources, IT, legal, compliance,
security, and procurement to create digital policies and practices that comply
with regulations, unlock opportunity, strengthen the brand and liberate
employees.

Podnar speaks
regularly at industry conferences, contributes articles to publications, and
delivers masterclasses on digital policy. Podnar is the Principal of
NativeTrust Consulting, LLC. She has a BA in international studies and an MBA
in international business from the Dominican University of California and is
certified as both a Change Management Practitioner (APMG International) and a
Project Management Professional (Project Management Institute).

The Power of Digital Policy: A practical guide to
minimizing risk and maximizing opportunity for your
organization
is available on Amazon and
through other fine booksellers. For more information, visit Kristina @ www.kpodnar.com and on LinkedIn and Twitter.